Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1887-11-14
A WICKED ELEPHANT.
PLEASURES or RAILWAY TRAVEL
WITH A VICIOUS BRUTE.

Locked in q Close Car at Night With an
Elephant in One Corner and a Drunken
Keeper in another-Lively Times-Put
Not Your Trust in ephantS-
During the time I was with Fore
paugh's circus" says James TwitcheE,
Buffalo Bills late manager of the London
ssWild West Show, " Il took part in some
exhibitions that were not down on the
bills One in particular | shall not be
likely TO FORGET The show disnanded at
Chicago: Bamboo, the trick elephant, was
le .sed 10 the kiralfy brothers, who were
about 10 open their season in Boston.
Bamboo had established name for him
self Is II savage, treacherous brute, who
had killed and MANNED at least a dozen
men lie had keeper who was in
the habit Of becoming and Remaining
drunk. | hadn't much iiea Of the
dangerous character Of the journey until
we were perhaps hundred miles out of
Chicago. The bottom of the car was
thickly Uttered with hay, in which BAN
boo. the keeper and myself were TO sleep
together The keepers bottle was one OF
my earliest discoveries and discourage
ments The novelty of the situation kept
me awake pretty much all the first night
ont and il was with some dismay that |
discovered that the keeper WAS hopelessly
drunk, snoring i'll the hay. That would
not have minded had Bamboo only kept
quiet. But he didn't and wouldn't, and
that first night, before had become in
the least accustomed to the situation, was
simply q night OF horrors. In the still
hours of that night, with the train rush
ing along at the rate Of thirty miles an
hour. would at short Intervals hear a
muifled snort from the monster Mt the
other end OF the car, and then feel q 81
gantic foot showing against me, or the end
of his trunk passing tuquisitively over my
face, Then ! would jump up and yell TO
the keeper, with energetic kicks To en-
phasIze my remarks.
Here, you--wake up That Internal
elephant Is going 10 trample us To DEATH
The drunken keeper would get to his
feet swear give Bamboo an uumerciful
proldinI with his fork. the great brute
would lie down and cry, and we would
have peace,
This scene, with variations, is what
happened all the way from Chicago to
New York | wasn't trampled to death
by the elephant; why was not do not
know
"About daylight we were in the vicinity
of Erie, Pa. Here Bamboo took cogni-
zance OF his surroundings in disagree
able way. Elephant cars, be 1t under,
stood are specially built and fitted for the
transportation of these brutes, and the
car in which we first embarked was not
of this kind. Ii was not high enough nor
strong enough. When the vicious brute
had thoroughly satisfied himself Of these
facts, he rose up out of the hay. arched
his ugly back, and burst the whole top Of
the car out.
1--WE stopped Mt Erie. There was loud
swearing and clamor by the railroad men
for compensation for the damage. told
them to send their bill to the kiralfys,
and, in the meantime, If they didn't want
the elephant on their hands to take care
of, they had better help me get him to
Boston rs fast rs possible. They took
look at Bamboo, observed his vicious eye,
and said they guessed that was 50.
We arrived at Buffalo. A necessity
of the trip was a change of cars at this
point The elephant had been we'll fed
and well watered, and might have had
the decency to behave himself The
keeper got him out Of the wrecked car In
good shape and started him for his new
quarters in the waiting train. A great
pile of blackberry crates was near. but not
at all in the way. May be blamed II
that devilish brute didn't make for them
and destroy twenty-four full crates before
the keeper could restrain him.
"Well, everybody knows the law about
elephants and other wild beasts. had
to settle for the blackberries on the spot
and large hole it made In my $50
The most dangerous and laborous in
! clupf Of trim yOnl1 hnNn ham
pcned but for the fact that when The
keeper was sober he would smoke n pipe
| His smoking set the hay afrc near SYRIA
| cuSe. and before 1t was discovered the car
was filled with smoke, the elephant was
snortiug and trumpeting and we couldn't
stamp ont the fire.
eve had two buckets. | rushed with
| them through the baggage car, over the
| tender, got the fireman in the cab TO fill
! them, and ram back with them to our car.
| This feat, half dozen times repeated,
with the train going at express speed, was
n small task. The keeper took the pals
a. the door of our car and doused the
! burning hay with the water. Simple
business, you would say, to put out such
fire that way. SO 1t would have been
but for that elephant. He came near
getting us and himself burned up to-
gether; for about every second he would
swing his trunk around, overset the pals
and spill the water anywhere but on the
fire have heard something of the in
telligeuce of the elephant; this fellow was
in panic until we got that fire out
cone Sunday morning we unloaded at
the Grand Central station in New York,
and getting into Broadway, marched tri-
umphantly down. OF my $50 | had left
81 Bamboo had eaten up and de
stroyed more than $50 worth The keeper
was Gloriously drunk; but we had passed
the larger part of the journey, we had but
one stage more and / had high hopes of
getting into Boston Tuesday morning at
the furthest.
with much trouble we got the brute
quartered in barn on Crosby street We
slept with him, and ate cold junk for
twenty four hours. When we marched
aboard the sound steamer with Bamboo
the next day my 81 50 was gone, and the
keeper and had left our coats as security
for the elephants board. Yet | presume
the crowd on the steamer thought it the
correct thing for gentlemen in care of an
elephant to appear in their shirt sleeves
So our dignity was maintained.
The name of kiralfy, aided, believe,
by "A telegram from the management to
the captain Of the boat, secured our trans
pOrtation. and | foudly fancied that my
woes were over. But let no man put his
trust in an elephant! Bamboo was reserv-
inL his master stroke for the finish In
the streets of Boston we met car. The
elephant deliberately killed the horse with
one blow of his trunk; the car was over
turned; the passengers tainted. screamed
and ran; u short parley was held with the
police. which resulted in a final tri-
umphant procession to the Kiralfy barn.
First, very long distance ahead, walked
squad It police; next came Bamboo. his
keeper aaI business manager; next, at a
respectful distance in the rear. dozen
reporters; last, several thousand Of the
nj ecilane3us population of Boston any
ious to do Us honor. New York sun.